Escape
by eternallydaydreaming
Summary: In a galaxy, far, far away...Leo is caught in peril as he seeks to save his princess. An AU drabble based off the 2012 turtles


A/N: Written for the tmnt flashfiction on tumblr. August's theme was Favorite Alternate Universe. I'll admit I do not typically read AU's and I rarely find one that I like (though I have found some gems). This was out of my comfort zone so I decided to challenge myself. You really do have to read it to the end though. Hope you like what I did with it. Enjoy!

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Escape

Violent shaking almost threw the valiant Leo Solo out of his seat. Many people however usually described him as brash and reckless because of the various scrapes he found himself in - such is the life of a space pirate – but nothing was going to stand in his way from saving the love of his life, Princess Miwa. It was a race against time as she was held captive by the evil Darth Saki. If only he could shake his pursuers!

"Come on, Raphie," Leo growled out. "We need more throttle! Can't you squeeze out more juice?"

Leo's trusty companion, Raphbacca, shot him an annoyed look through narrowed eyes. A loud gurgled response echoed through the metallic cabin.

"Oh don't give me that attitude! We need to get the heck outta here before we're blown up!"

A loud explosion rocked their ship. The tall green furry companion nearly banged his head against the ceiling. Piercing green eyes glared as he growled out his complaints.

"It's not my fault that we're being fired on!"

Another blast shook the ship. The lights flickered. The duo held their breath and sighed in relief once the lights decided to remain illuminated. Raphbacca whipped around, releasing an onslaught of complaints while his arms waved, expressing his frustrations.

"Ok, fine. It's a little bit my fault. Sure I stole from an arms dealer but we need the weapons. Trust me - it'll be worth it in the end….if we get out of this alive…."

Another blast but this time the lights went out for good…as well as the engine. An eerie silence filled the cockpit. The stars that were once streaking past at lightning speed now settled into distant twinkling balls. His heart thumped against his chest in sync with each passing second. Even though he faced an inevitable demise the only one he thought about was Miwa. The distant sound of the metal door scraping open was all Leo needed to know that the enemy was boarding. Was this really the end of the road for Leo Solo and his trusty sidekick…?

With a loud "oomph," Leo crashed hard to the floor as a solid entity crashed into him, knocking them both off of the little twin-sized bed. Tangled in a mess of blanket and limbs, Leo scrambled to for an exit…and fresh air. Once surfacing, he eyed the lump that was having more trouble find his way out of the fabric's tight embrace.

"What was that for, Mikey?" Leo squealed in a higher pitch than he desired. Stupid puberty.

He didn't need to actually see the boy to know which of his brothers would have pulled a ridiculous stunt like that. A cheery freckled face finally popped out, flashing a giddily proud grin. Auburn hair shot out at every direction – the static electricity amplified it more than normal.

"It's lights out, Bro. We're supposed to be in bed but I saw your flashlight through the blanket. What were you doing anyway? You know the rules," Mikey stated as he discreetly walked his fingers toward the spiral notebook in Leo's hands. Mikey was not discreet enough though. Noticing the imminent threat, Leo whipped his notebook behind his back and away from the prying blue eyes.

"None of your business!" Leo hissed back.

"Leo Solo?" A voice questioned, partially in amusement but mixed with disapproval. Leo paled as the mortifying realization set in that his writing was plainly visible for another brother to bear witness. Before he could snap out of his trance, the notebook was snatched out of his hands. Leo spun around and his eyes widened in horror as he saw Raph thumbing through the pages.

"Space pirate?" came the quizzical reaction. Eye brows raised in disbelief as green irises continued to scan through the lines.

"Give that back, Raph!" Leo ordered as he jumped up and began chasing his shorter but swifter brother around the room.

Leo attempted to cut off Raph by jumping on the beds but only managed to step on Donnie's stomach. As Donnie curled into a ball from the pain he accidentally knocked Leo off the bed, sending him crashing onto his arm. Rage and embarrassment burned hot as blood rushed to his rosy cheeks deepening it into a deep scarlet. His long black bangs were not long enough to conceal the blush….or the tears threatening to spill.

"Seriously, what is this junk?" Raph mocked. "Ninja space pirate turtles? So lame!"

With a low growl, Leo hurled himself at Raph. The boys rolled on the ground. Both of their grips held tight onto the notebook, creasing the pages. Not that it was in pristine condition to begin with but Leo held great pride in maintaining its gently used status. Leo managed to slip his leg between their bodies and shoved Raph off of him. Raph yelped in pain and stuck his index finger between his pouting lips.

"You gave me a paper cut!" he accused, earning him an irritated eye roll.

"Served you right. You shouldn't go through other people's stuff."

Leo hugged his prized possession close to his body. Blue eyes darted between each of his three brothers, daring any of them to try to pry it out his hands.

"Why do you even waste your time with that, Leo? The stories aren't interesting. Honestly they are getting pretty weird. Wasn't it enough that you turned us into mutant teen turtle ninjas? Now you're writing about turtle ninja space pirates…or whatever 'Raphbacca' is supposed to be. Pfft. I don't get why you always dive into your screwy fantasy world."

Raph flopped back into his bed and rolled over, pulling his thin blanket up over his head.

"You guys should go back to bed too," Donnie suggested before releasing a wide open mouth yawn. "You'll get us in trouble if head mistress finds us awake."

Mikey jumped back into his bed, wrapping himself up like a burrito, and settled back into his dream world – almost instantaneously. Leo however trudged over to one of the windows and sat on the sill, staring out at the city. Their orphanage wasn't in the heart of the city but he could view New York's glow from that vantage point. There was something warm and comforting knowing there was more to the world than the cold, unloving walls that contained them. Leo stared at his reflection. His knotted black hair dropped over his eyes. Sad, dull blue eyes stared back at him. Due to his fair skin, his reflection appeared as if he was a ghost. Years ago when they first heard the story of Snow White, his brothers had nicknamed him after the fairy tale princess since he matched her description. His life however was anything but magical. With each passing day, year after year, Leo and his brothers outgrew the desired age of cute adoptable little boys. Besides who would want to adopt four brothers though at the same time no one had the heart to separate them either. Sighing, Leo rested his head against the cold glass as he allowed tears to finally fall.

 _I wish you could understand, Raph. With a cruel, lonely life such as ours my fantasy world is my only escape._


End file.
